Part of the Pack
by prospekt
Summary: There was no way I was looking forward to moving in with my Uncle Billy as I stared out the plane window at the clouds covering the ground. I don't like not seeing the ground. I like its stability, but my life was anything but stable right now.


**DISCLAIMER** (For the WHOLE STORY): I don't own any characters or settings or ANYTHING that is even vaguely mentioned in the Twilight series. I also don't claim ownership of anything that is copyrighted in this story.

**Title**: Part of the Pack

**Summary: **There was no way I was looking forward to moving in with my Uncle Billy as I stared out the plane window at the clouds covering the ground. I don't like not seeing the ground. I like its stability, but my life was anything but stable right now.

**Author's Note: **This story is mostly just for fun, so I'm not wasting my time checking every single detail to make sure it coincides with the books. I'll do my best, but it's been a while since I last read _Twilight_.

Without further ado…

**CHAPTER 1**

There was no way I was looking forward to moving to La Push with my uncle Billy as I sat in the plane, staring down at the clouds covering the ground. I always get a little nervous when I can't see the ground. Used to standing on it you know. The idea of not having something solid under my feet was one of the only things that gave me goose bumps, so naturally, I was an uneasy flyer, but I wasn't one to freak out and take twelve sleeping pills to knock me out the whole trip. I was too proud for that.

But to say that there wasn't a small part of me that was a little excited about the whole "moving in with Billy" thing would be a lie. There has always been a part of me that loves adventure, and this was definitely an adventure. With no expectations except endless rain, anything could happen, right?

"_Hey mom! I'm home," I yelled as I came gasping into the front door. I had just finished my long run for the week and it was Saturday morning. I had decided I would make a strawberry-banana smoothie. Those always helped after a work-out._

_I walked into the kitchen and tripped. I wondered what it could have been in the middle of the floor. Knowing me, my shoe probably just caught on the floor. My mom was lying on the ground. I also did not fail to notice her insulin shot not far from her on the floor as well. My stomach sank. My heart sank. Every internal organ sank. I could barely call 9-1-1._

The seat belt sign blinked on as the pilot announced our decent into Port Angeles, a town a little ways off from the Reservation, but since La Push was too small to have an airport, I would be landing there instead. I put my untouched book, the _Count of Monte Cristo_, I was planning on reading it in original French once I finished French V, back into my dark green backpack and slid it under the chair in front of me, clicked my seat belt, and went back to looking out the window as the plane entered the clouds.

I was 17 and starting my junior year in September. I stood at 5'7," had straight, thick brown hair that landed just past my shoulder blades and was usually seen pulled back into a pony-tail, and large brown eyes. My skin was tanned, considering it was the end of the summer, but not evenly, for I'm the last girl you'd see out tanning in a bikini, and therefore I suffered from horrible tan lines, not that I cared. I'm a bit of a tomboy. A lot of a tomboy.

My usual attire: You hardly ever see me wearing anything fancier than jeans and tee shirts I have from cross-country races. When it's warm enough, I don the running shorts. To the beach, I wore an athletic one piece, Nike. I'm the crazy girl you see schooling the boys on the waves. No, I don't surf; I lack the proper balance. I excel in a much more gratifying sport: boogie boarding. If you don't know what that is, you can Google it.

I'm the one who would rather hang out with guys than other girls my age not because I was looking for a boyfriend, but because I much preferred their company with their sports and jokes to the gossiping girls. I sometimes became so comfortable with guys, it was hard to relate with other girls, so I eventually

So that is who emerged from port D in yellow and black Asics running shoes, jeans and a white, long-sleeve 5k t-shirt with a trusty, forest green backpack. I did not fail to notice how it perfectly matched the scenery.

I scanned the airport crowd for old Uncle Billy and Jacob. I had heard he had grown a little, but I did not expect to see his face looming a whole head above the rest of the crowd. At least I had no trouble finding him. I noticed his hair was a lot shorter than I had last seen it. Which was five years ago.

Sure enough, sitting next to him in his wheel chair with his long, black hair was Billy Black, my dad's brother. My dad had been killed in a tragic accident at the Reservation when I was still little and living there. That's when my mom and I moved to Arizona, as different as it can get from the cloudy, empty beaches. Jacob and Billy seemed to guess what I was thinking and looked down (or up in Billy's case) at me sympathetically. I moved on to more comfortable thoughts.

"So, can we get out of here or what? I never much liked air ports."

"That's my Emmy!" Billy said. Only my older relatives ever addressed me by my childhood nickname. "It's good to have you back."

"Missed you, Em," Jacob said as he scooped me up in a bear hug. This was his usual greeting, but I never remembered it being so big… or warm. In fact, being almost the same age as him (2 months older, I was proud to claim), I was pretty sure we were the same height last we met. He must have hit his growth spurt. I was practically sweating when he returned me to my solid ground.

We walked to the baggage claim and I picked up my modest suitcase. My wardrobe took only about half of it, so I crammed in as much stuff from around the room and house that I could into the second half. It mostly comprised pictures and CDs. After about 5 more minutes of watching the conveyer belt spin, I picked up my guitar and we headed home. To them at least.

We drove back in an old red truck with my stuff secured in the back. They had a tarp there, but it wasn't raining, so we didn't bother to put it over the bags. During the drive, Jacob and Billy talked quietly amongst themselves, laughing, while I listened in. I usually didn't participate in the conversation unless they directly asked me a question. It was comforting to just listen to their quiet, easy banter. After about 2 hours, we arrived in front of a small, yellow house.

"Here we are," exclaimed Billy from the passenger seat. "It's not much, but it's home."

I thought it was perfect. I remembered practically living at this house when my mom, my dad, and I lived here. I was really close to Jacob as a kid, and we lived only 15 minutes away. I remember once running the whole 5 miles there when I was eight. My mom was mad, but my dad was proud of my strength and show of independence, but he pretended to punish me when my mom was around…

_It was a complete stranger who'd told me I'd lost my mom to diabetes. She'd had it since she was a girl, and it finally overcame her body. It wasn't a surprise that she died, just a loss. A huge loss._

_The doctors had done tests every year to see if I was developing the disease, seeing as I had a larger chance because my mother had it, but it never developed_._ I'd never seen my mom so happy as when she heard the news that I was free of her burden_.

Jacob and Billy seemed to pick up on my emotional state and simply helped me move into my new room, one of Jacob's older sisters' rooms. They'd moved out to go to college about the time I moved after my dad died. As far as I know, they haven't paid a visit back since then either.

I liked it even if it was a little girly. When I say girly, I'm referring to the fact that there was purple, but I wasn't that opposed to the color. At least it wasn't pink. The walls were different shades of soft blue: two light, one medium, and one darker. My comforter was light purple with dark purple designs on it, and the sheets were also blue. There was a wooden desk in one corner that I could use to do homework and a small closet for my pathetic amount of clothes. It had a laid back tone, a tone I needed right now.

Once my luggage was set in the middle of the room, Jacob offered to help un-pack, but I declined. I took out an envelope of pictures and began sticking them on the walls. Some were framed, others not, so I used tape to stick on the plain ones and put nails in the wall to hang the framed ones. I put my alarm clock on my bedside table and my clothes in my closet. After about half an hour, the room was officially acceptable for me to live in until college.

I decided I was tired from all the traveling and I was still on the brink of tears as I had been for the last month. I shed my jeans and put on a pair of old, too-big-for-me gym shorts. Figuring my feet would freeze, I put on a large pair of black socks, pulling them up to my mid-shin. I lazily crawled into bed and fell asleep under the warm down blanket at 6:39.

At one point in the night, I woke up to see it was 11:50 pm. I really loved the Blacks for not disturbing me for dinner. They understand that I need my space. Realizing I hadn't brushed my teeth before I fell asleep, I went to the bathroom I shared with Jacob across the hall. I wasn't surprised to see the lights out in the house, so I quickly brushed my teeth and walked back into my room.

It was then that I heard the howl of a wolf. Long, loud, and mournful, as all wolf calls are, but it seemed much more powerful. I was stunned for a moment, listening to the sound again in my head. I must not have been completely conscious, because I don't remember climbing back into my bed, but I do know I dreamed of wolves that night. My dad was there, too, amongst them, leading them.

I was awoken by the slamming of a door and heavy footsteps walking into the kitchen. In my semi-consciousness, I heard the fridge open and close and the steps get louder. It took me a second to realize they had stopped in front of my door. I groaned and opened my eyes to see a hulking figure in the doorway, grinning at me. It took me a minute to realize that it was Jacob. I would never get used to his unusual size.

"Rise and shine, bed-head," he said.

I groaned. "I'll rise, but I'm not promising any shining."

"Never heard that one before," he mumbled as he turned as if he was leaving.

"Hey, Jake, what time is it?"

"Deciding to greet the day after all?" He asked.

"Jake," I whined. I was not a morning person, even if I did sleep 10 hours. Jake make an exaggerated notion of checking his watchless wrist.

"Time for you to get up, I'd say."

I threw my pillow at him. It was a pretty good shot, but his reflexes allowed him to escape the wrath of my pillow. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my bed, getting a little lightheaded at the sudden movement. Once it passed, I pulled my hair up into a pony-tail, not even bothering to see what nest had installed itself upon my head last night.

I took a breath, preparing to face cheery attitudes of my uncle and cousin. I didn't want to be stuck in denial for several years because of my… I would be normal. I could start over here. I took another deep breath. Grabbing my phone (a red Chocolate), I saw that it was now 11:35. Whatever sleep I had been lacking was made up.

Standing up, a made my way to the kitchen, craving some Honey Bunches of Oats, but seriously doubting they had any. I would most likely have to make a run to the grocery store. When did a house of males ever have any food other than frozen pizzas?

Upon entering the kitchen, my eyes met those of two more monstrous guys, resembling Jacob. My socks decided that the floor was much too slippery to deny it the opportunity of embarrassing me, and so they slid and I fell on my butt. I sat there for a minute and waited for the laughter that was sure to ensue. It wasn't until Jake let one slip that all three men, or boys that looked like men, started laughing hysterically. I continued to remain where I was until their laughter died down and one of the ones I didn't know offered me a hand up. I considered getting up without it, but I took it after giving him a "I hate you, but not really" look.

Once I got to my feet, I asked, "Great, so now that I've made my entrance, who are you?"

"Quil and Embry," Jacob interjected as he pointed to them. Quil waved a little and mouthed "Hey" and Embry smiled so widely I thought he was crazed or something. "They might as well be twins. They're idiots, don't mind them." Quil and Embry seemed to already know who I was, so I skipped straight to the point.

"Whatever you say. So what have you got to eat around here?" My stomach chose that moment to remind me that I hadn't eaten dinner the night before.

Jacob looked at me guiltily. "Sorry, Em, I just finished off the contents of the fridge, so unless you want frozen, uncooked fish, then…"

I gave him my best "You've got to be kidding me" look.

"We could always go to Emily's. We just got back from there, but she always has food," Embry suggested.

"I'm Emily…" I said, a little confused.

"No, Sam's Emily," Jacob explained. My confused face did not leave. "Just come on. You need to meet everyone anyway."

"Everyone who?" I asked.

"The p—My friends. Come on. Let's go get some breakfast."

**End Chapter 1.**


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